In policy development and implementation, different frameworks are used simultaneously by policy makers, scientists, and other stakeholders to address environmental and ecological issues. Distinct frameworks could invoke different expectations in terms of valuations, trade-offs and therefore decision
making. There is also a disconnect between representation of ecosystem values and decision making across sectors. An emphasis on data and counting has led to inappropriately weighted valuations where 'easy-to- count' parameters are weighted more, and marginalized voices directly impacted by ecosystem valuations are ignored. Concurrently, there is a lack of proper understanding of the value of the natural world and the future impacts of action or inaction. There is also a lack of economical solutions for these impacts, and existing communication fails to articulate in a way that makes the impact significant to each individual and their lives directly. This evokes a lack of social responsibility and empathy that has led to limited or narrow views of ecosystems and sector-specific valuations. All these issues result in further environmental degradation leading to socioeconomic and ecological disparity that impacts the health of humans and the natural world, natural property, climate breakdown, species loss, and crises such as pandemics.
To address these issues, we need to develop next- generation valuation methodologies that ensure the values and interests of local communities as well as non- human communities. We must ensure that future generations are properly represented, and we need to understand how ecosystem valuations are used to shape policy decision making in a broad range of contexts and scales. We must understand how to use this information to advance human development in India through innovation and development of systems while reducing the negative impact on our ecosystems. We also need to understand how to correctly value the natural world, including socioeconomic valuation and a valuation language that works across social and economic strata. We must find language to communicate to people about the drastic drop in quality of life and planetary life support systems and how it impacts communities, industry, and wildlife, with a special focus on marginalised and disenfranchised communities, common or shared spaces in urban and rural areas, and varied habitats. We must seek to impact social behaviour on a large scale and enable better decision making at every level about the use of bioresources for industry and research. All these factors should be coupled with human behaviour studies to understand social learning and social norms.